Buckle.



E. N. HUMPHREY.

BUCKLE.

APPLICATION FILED APR.14, 1910.

Patefited Feb. 7, 1911.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ERNEST N. HUMPI-IREY, OF NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO TRAUT & HINE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

BUCKLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 7, 1911.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERNEST N. HUMPHREY, a citizen of the United States, residing at New Britain, county of Hartford, State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Buckles, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in buckles particularly to the so-called tongueless type.

The object of the present invention is to improve a construction which is in the main well known, said improvement relating to a particular form of gripping device whereby a belt may be very securely held without danger of injury.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a buckle on a very much enlarged scale simply for the purposes of illustration; Fig. 2 is a plan view; Fig. 3 is an end View of Fig. 2, looking from right to left; Fig. 4 is a plan view of a detail detached; Fig. 5 is an endview of the detail shown in Fig. 4.

l2 are the side bars of the frame of the buckle.

3 is a bar at one end'to which a strap 4 may be permanently connected.

5 is the end of a strap designed to be detachably connected.

6 is an end bar of the buckle opposite the bar 3, the edges at one end of the frame are rolled under, as at 77, to form a guide passage for the gripping member. The end bar 6 preferably has a rolled-under portion 8, which forms a rounded bearing to prevent cutting the strap 5. The gripping member is in the form of a loop as shown in Fig. 4. This loop is generally of rectangular form and has a strap passage 9 which separates what I will term the draw-bar 10 from the gripping bar 11. The gripping bar has a rolled over gripping portion 11. The gripping part 11 is depressed or so proportioned as to slide freely under the part 8 of the frame, while the edge of the rolled-up part 11 is arranged substantially in the same plane with the part 8. The draw-bar 10 is preferably slightly depressed. From the foregoing it will be seen that the gripping action on the belt 5 is effected as follows:

In Fig. 1, the parts are shown as assembled and gripping the belt 5. In this View the belt 5 passes into the front end of the buckle, passing under the draw-bar 10, thence up through the space between the top of the bar 11 and the under side of the part 8, thence up again through the rear edge of the part 11 and the forward edge of the bar 6. The free end of said belt 5, as indicated at 5*, may be tucked under the fixed end of the strap 4. Any pull upon the belt end 5 in a direction to separate it from the buckle increases the gripping action of the gripping member upon the belt by reason of the frictional drag of the part 5 against the draw bar 10. As will be seen, the particular construction of the gripping member and its cooperation with the bar 8 is such as to put in the belt end 5 a peculiar bight, whereby the belt end 5 is frictionally gripped in such a manner that it is impossible for said belt to accidentally slip. Again, by the particular arrangement shown, the gripping member itself is frictionally retained in the belt engaging position by reason of the surface engagement on the belt between the upper side of the bar 11 and the under side of the rolled-under part 8. Were it not for this engagement and if the tension upon the strap end 5 is released, the gripping member would be free to slide back out of its belt gripping position and the latter would become rel-eased.

What I claim is:

In a belt buckle, a frame having side bars and a cross bar, a gripping member slidable only relatively to and between the side bars of the frame, said gripping member including a part arranged to project against the inside of said cross bar to grip the belt at that point, and having another part arranged to project under the cross bar to frictionally grip the belt between it and the under side of the said cross bar when the gripping member is in gripping position and a draw bar on said gripping member forward of the last mentioned part thereon and under said cross-bar.

ERNEST N. HUMPHREY.

Witnesses:

WV. J WoRAM, Jr., MARGARET A. GORMAN. 

